A couple of quick meandering thoughts from a new subscriber who really loves beer but doesn’t necessarily read a lot of beer writing. I think you’re really on to something with your last paragraph in the beer writing section. The beer and experience are really important and if I’ll never be able to try the beer, visit the brewery or have something close to the experience the writer’s had, I lose interest pretty quickly unless it’s a really incredible story. Those really incredible stories tend to rise to the surface anyway, without needing a paid subscription to a niche publication. I sort of think breweries can/should be able to start telling these stories themselves a bit more - it finished after lockdowns and not sure if it did them any favours in the UK trade but some of the beer content I’ve enjoyed most was the virtual tap takeovers Cloudwater did with other breweries around the world, combined with being able to send out beers from those breweries. Hearing brewers/owners chatting to each other candidly was much more enlightening than a profile piece with staged photos from a couple of weeks later. I enjoy Will Hawkes’ London Beer City because I live in London and it gives me ideas about places to go/beers to try. I think Matt Curtis has done something similar with his Manchester book. Thanks for the round-ups!
As a fellow beer writer, this was at times painful to read. But important lessons – thanks for writing it.
And totally agreed with Jordan's comment on brewery profiles. I'd guess they only tend to work if it's someone like Verdant or Vault City. And they've all been done?
A couple of quick meandering thoughts from a new subscriber who really loves beer but doesn’t necessarily read a lot of beer writing. I think you’re really on to something with your last paragraph in the beer writing section. The beer and experience are really important and if I’ll never be able to try the beer, visit the brewery or have something close to the experience the writer’s had, I lose interest pretty quickly unless it’s a really incredible story. Those really incredible stories tend to rise to the surface anyway, without needing a paid subscription to a niche publication. I sort of think breweries can/should be able to start telling these stories themselves a bit more - it finished after lockdowns and not sure if it did them any favours in the UK trade but some of the beer content I’ve enjoyed most was the virtual tap takeovers Cloudwater did with other breweries around the world, combined with being able to send out beers from those breweries. Hearing brewers/owners chatting to each other candidly was much more enlightening than a profile piece with staged photos from a couple of weeks later. I enjoy Will Hawkes’ London Beer City because I live in London and it gives me ideas about places to go/beers to try. I think Matt Curtis has done something similar with his Manchester book. Thanks for the round-ups!
As a fellow beer writer, this was at times painful to read. But important lessons – thanks for writing it.
And totally agreed with Jordan's comment on brewery profiles. I'd guess they only tend to work if it's someone like Verdant or Vault City. And they've all been done?